According to Bezos, customers have had to wait up to six weeks to receive the Kindle, which has been shipped on a first-come, first-served basis. Bezos said the company has been "scrambling" to increase its manufacturing capacity ever since, something that I'm sure a book retailer has had little experience in. In any event, the company was still scrambling back in January, when it acquired Audible.com.

"We hope to be able to announce to you within the next few weeks that we're back in stock and when you order a Kindle, we'll ship it to you the that very same day," Bezos wrote. "That's our goal: order today, and we ship today. Until then, customers can order now, and they'll be first in line.

"For those of you who have waited six weeks to get your Kindle, you have our sincere thanks for your patience," Bezos added.

Frankly, without knowing how many Kindles have been sold, it's difficult to say whether the Kindle is truly a successful product, or whether this is just a case of demand significantly outpacing a relatively small supply. The PC Magazine review of the device was overwhelmingly positive, although the $399 price tag was cited as a deterrent.

Bezos and his operations team have certainly learned some valuable lessons, though. If Amazon ever decided to release a PMP-like Kindle Video, for example, I'm guessing many of the teething problems the Kindle has faced would already be solved.